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Whitlock keeps it real

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Whitlock's take on the events from Fox Sports.

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You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

In a society that increasingly supports caged human ****fighting ó aka MMA ó has a proud history with boxing, cheers lustily whenever fights break out inside a hockey rink and builds Roman Empire-stylized coliseums for football games, a 320-pound, sweet-talking lineman has somehow convinced a segment of America that Chiefs fans are the sick and disgusting bad guys.
You gotta be f---ing kidding me.

You damn straight a small percentage of Chiefs fans cheered loudly when two overgrown Ravens knocked Matt Cassel smooth the hell out. Did we not cheer when Mike Tyson curb-stomped Michael Spinks? Google the knockout work that made Anderson Silva the MMAís most beloved star and tell me if you hear respectful silence or wild, joyful hysteria?

We love violence and Eric Winstonís hypocritical *** is wealthy because heís relatively adept at inflicting it. The only thing all that unusual about the smattering of cheers that greeted Casselís glazed-eyed trip to the turf is that his hometown fans gave life to the noise. And for that, you can blame Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, his boss, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, and the escalating cost of being a sports fan in the era of shopping mall-amusement park stadiums.

Sickening? A smattering of cheers for an injured $66 million quarterback with a rating of 66.2 and a league-leading 14 turnovers?

No. No. Whatís sickening is how easily Winston, Kansas Cityís right tackle, deflected the national media from the real story. One of the most passionate fan bases in sports ó Kansas City Chiefs fans ó has been abused so thoroughly the last eight to 10 years that it is turning unruly. What happened Sunday inside Arrowhead Stadium is a result of the Hunt familyís neglect of their fan base. This has been brewing since 1998, since Marty Schottenheimer courageously and justifiably realized he should move on after 10 years in Kansas City. From 1989 to 1998, Schottenheimer and his front-office partner Carl Peterson transformed Arrowhead Stadium from an empty parking lot into one of the coolest, most electric places on earth eight fall Sundays a year. Football Sundays in Kansas City became mini-holidays. The whole town wore red starting on Fridays. Tailgating at Arrowhead Stadium before games was Kansas Cityís No. 1 social activity.

Iíve watched NFL games at every venue. Nothing compared to Arrowhead Stadium during the Schottenheimer era. Nothing. The Chiefs never advanced to the Super Bowl, but Kansas City was the NFLís ground zero. The players, coaches and executives were treated like royalty.

The players, coaches, executives and ownership got spoiled. They didnít have to win it all to be treated as if they had. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game since 1993. Thatís right. The Chiefs havenít won a playoff game in two decades. But the stadium was filled, the parking lot packed and Chiefs jerseys hung in seemingly every Kansas City closet so Lamar Hunt, Kansas Cityís Dallas-based owner, allowed Carl Peterson to hang around 10 years after Schottenheimer left, a good five years after it was painfully obvious Petersonís previous success was a result of Schottenheimerís brilliance. Most Chiefs fans concluded Hunt wouldíve never allowed Peterson to linger for a decade if Hunt lived in Kansas City and felt the pain of each disappointing season as personally as Kansas City residents. Kansas Citians attached their identity to their professional football team. Joe Montana, Marcus Allen and Derrick Thomas made the typical, insecure Kansas Citian feel big time.
The stench of Petersonís last 10 years and Lamar Huntís loyalty to Peterson are fueling Chiefs fans lack of patience with their successors, Scott Pioli and Clark Hunt. The situation is further exacerbated by KCís newly renovated stadium and the elevated cost associated with it. Chiefs fans are paying $27 to park, $200 for a club-level seat, $10 for beer and are watching teams with no reasonable shot at postseason success.
For the most part in todayís NFL, no quarterback equals no shot.

Lamar Hunt and Carl Peterson could never pick a quarterback. In 20 years, they never drafted one in the first round. They preferred to sign someone elseís veteran. Given a choice in the 1990s between benching an aloof, inconsistent and expensive Elvis Grbac and going with locker-room/fan favorite Rich Gannon, Hunt and Peterson let Gannon escape to Oakland, where he won a league MVP award, made four Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl appearance. Grbac eventually bounced to Baltimore and quit football. No one, besides Trent Dilfer, remembers Elvis Grbac.

Scott Pioliís first major personnel decision in Kansas City was giving Matt Cassel a franchise-quarterback contract despite his highly suspicious resume. Cassel never played at USC. He played one season at New England. Cassel is Pioliís original sin, the mistake that has haunted his four years in Kansas City. Pioli, the Bill Belichick disciple, saw in Cassel the second coming of Tom Brady. Pioli arrogantly and foolishly thought heíd discovered Brady in a bottle twice. Ha.

This year Cassel has been the worst starting quarterback in football. Heís a turnover machine. He clearly lacks confidence. His arm strength is atrocious. His ball floats up before it moves ahead. He needs to be benched. Pioli wonít allow it.

Before Sundayís game, a group of working-class Chiefs fans pooled their money to fly a banner over Arrowhead Stadium demanding that Hunt fire Pioli and bench Cassel. These people love their football team. Clark Hunt lives in Dallas. The fans are spending their money to get the attention of their absentee owner. Theyíre afraid that Pioli-Hunt is going to be a replica of Peterson-Hunt. Their fears are justified. Pioli is a poor manís Peterson. Pioli is an embarrassingly insecure version of Peterson, a man with a bloated ego. Pioli masks his insecurity with a false bravado, a dictatorís management approach and a constant desire to manipulate the media into believing he was the brains behind the Patriots dynasty.

Chiefs fans arenít having it. They want a real quarterback. They want the Cassel charade to end. Pioliís stubbornness forced a handful of Chiefs fans to spontaneously thank the Ravens for momentarily ending their Matt Cassel nightmare. I think America will survive.
Itís easy for the national media to sit on their couches, inside their television studios or on their free, comfy press-box seats and preach polite decency to the working-class folks paying to watch their hijacked football team.

I wonít do it. I was inside Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday as a Chiefs fan. Iím not the type to boo or cheer. But I want Pioli fired. Eric Winston, too.

There's a ton of trueth to this. I am not one to cheer that Cassel got hurt, however I was one to cheer that we got Quin in there. Not once did I feel good about Cassels injury. But we have seen way too much of Cassel under center.

I wish Cassel quick and complete recovery, but I don't ever want to see him play QB in a Chiefs uniform.

I totally forgot about Whitlock. But he is more qualified to comment on Chiefs business than any other of these media types that are soaking this story for what its worth. He lived closer to te epicenter of this debacle than we did.
You know, Matt Cassel had a bell rung. It happens every weekend in the NFL. He will be fine. He doesnt have terminal cancer.
Preach, Jason!

Sure....We are frustrated. And yeah....we DESERVE a competitive team.....

But nothing justifies it if Chiefs fans start behaving like Raiders fans.

I wasn't there, and the only video I have seen suggests the crowd was cheering because Cassel was on his feet and Quinn was coming in, but cheering because Cassel was injured would be beneath the dignity of any Chiefs fan. As much as you and I want him out of the game, cheering because he was injured would just not be right and no excuses that Whitlock makes up make it right.

By the sound of it, we ARE worse than Raiders fans;)
I dont agree with having a good time at Cassels injury. He seems like a real good dude and he has had to feel the wrath. I heard from a friend that watched the game on TV, that his wife even helps him with quiz cards. That actually made me feel pretty bummed. Trying so hard to make it work and alot of us (me, included) want him gone....and you could see the World turned upsude down on him. I want a different qb but im not revelling in his misfortune and definitely not his injury. But im sure he will
Be just fine. He walked off and that is a great thing. But ALOT of what Jason says is true. We are a society that relishes the knockout. The only reason these guys dont do more knocking out, is because of rules. So to play a barbaric sport and try to act civilized, really sets funny with me. And I think Jason addresses that part very accurately.

Someone had told me that on the telecast, that his wife would help quiz him with que' cards. That actually
Made me feel bad for riding his a** in threads. Guy obviously tried hard but if you don't have what it takes, things need to move on. Hey, he's filthy rich and will survive this. But im sure the ride has been Hell for him.